Syracuse, N.Y. — To understand why Donnie Foster was on the Syracuse campus last week, you have to go back to April 2013, when Foster transferred from his high school in Georgia to the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

Foster, a 6-foot-4, 310-pound center, had spent previous seasons playing in a triple-option based offense. His film was limited, and he felt he needed to get into a pro-style system to make him more attractive to Football Bowl Subdivision schools.
He and his father toured the facilities at IMG Academy and felt spending his senior year at the boarding school six hours from his Savannah home would help him achieve his goal. He enrolled last April and briefly shared a room with a mammoth-sized offensive lineman named Denzel Ward, who signed with Syracuse last month.

"We were close when we played offensive line together and we respected each other and respected the game of football," Foster said Sunday evening by phone. "I met him at the Nike camp when I was down here visiting. He attracted me to IMG."

Foster sought what Ward had. He wanted a chance to play college football at the highest level. By the time signing day rolled around, Foster was looking at offers from Ivy League schools such as Harvard and Dartmouth and a few Football Championship Subdivision schools. Several FBS schools, including Mississippi State, Georgia, Auburn and Georgia Tech showed interest until securing players higher on their wish lists but still offered Foster a preferred walk-on role, he said.

"I feel like if I could have one more year in a pro-style I would have been an offer guy," Foster said.

It was only around signing day that Syracuse started to ramp up its communication with Foster, expressing major interest for him to visit the campus. He arrived Wednesday night and stayed through Saturday, committing to join the team as a preferred walk-on. He can start practicing with the team in August.

The decision, he said, was "not only based on football, but the academics" as well. Foster wants to study business.

He also wants to compete for a starting spot down the road. The staff views him as an interior lineman that will start out at center when he arrives this summer. He also boasts long-snapping experience.

"They said you have to go in and compete, and if I was to go in and win a job, then I'd be able to earn a scholarship," Foster said. "But they've given me an opportunity, and that's all I can ask for."

The competition at center will be one of the most closely watched position battles of the spring and preseason. All-ACC center Macky MacPherson is out of eligibility, and three names expected to compete to replace him as Jason Emerich, John Miller and
Rob Trudo, the team's starting left guard.

Foster said he won't shy away from competition. It's why he rebuffed the Ivy League offers to try his hand at college football's highest level.

"I've played against top level players," he said. "Some are going to Florida and Georgia and Ole Miss. I've seen my friends go there and I've been able to compete with them. The FBS is a chance to be able to get better and compete at the highest level."

Follow Nate Mink on Twitter @MinkNate and Google+ or email him at nmink@syracuse.com.